how much money have you sent the government? >> a little bit over $3,000. >> reporter: $3,197.88, to be exact. all tracked on a hand-written ledger. the last three years, garcia has been paying the government $50 a month of his postal service pension and money from cans he collects. >> we are paying absolutely too much interest. >> reporter: it really bothers you? >> it bothers me, because it makes no sense. >> reporter: sense something garcia's wife of 59 years thinks her husband could use. do you think he's crazy? >> loco? >> reporter: call him crazy, but there is an entire federal office, the bureau of public debt, that collects money from hundreds of mr. garcias. this office in parkersburg, west virginia, was set up by president kennedy, so citizens could pay down the national debt. this year alone, it's collected $7.7 million in gifts, about $90 million since it was established. but $90 million isn't that much, especially when you consider the federal deficit is $16 trillion and climbing. to retire the debt, every single am